No opposition, Congress backs strikes, lauds forces

Aditi Tandon

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, September 29

The Congress today backed the government over surgical strikes on terror camps in PoK with party president Sonia Gandhi throwing her weight behind Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

In a rare show of political unity, Sonia, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and former Defence Minister AK Antony supported the government’s effort to protect the country, hoping Pakistan would now stop exporting terror to India.

Sonia said: “The Congress stands with the Government in its actions today to protect our country’s security and deal with the menace of terrorism from across the border. This is a strong message that conveys our country’s resolve to prevent further infiltration and attacks on our security forces and our people.”

The Congress chief’s remarks followed a high-level meeting she chaired after the announcement of surgical strikes by the DGMO. 

After deliberations at her residence, Sonia lauded the armed forces for a successful operation and hoped Pakistan would recognise that it bore a great responsibility in continuing cross-border terrorist attacks against India. 

“We expect Pakistan will take effective action to dismantle the infrastructure of terrorism that it has supported and it ensures that its territory or the territory under its control is not used for terrorism against India. We congratulate the armed forces on the success of the operation and offer our support to the government in our country’s continuing battle against cross-border terrorism,” she said.

Away to Guwahati, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi said: “All of us stand firmly united against terrorism and those who support and sponsor it. The Congress and I salute the Indian Army and our jawans for acting valiantly to defend our country and our people.”